Europeans Abroad: Vargas leads Tianjin to 15th Chinese title
News
European volleyball players are spread all over the world during the 2022-2023 club season, playing big roles in their teams. Many of them are currently away from the continent, competing in some of the top leagues on the planet, and we’ll help you follow their journeys by providing periodic updates on how they’re doing.
China
Turkish opposite Melissa Vargas starred in Tianjin Bohai Bank’s 15th Chinese title, leading the team to back-to-back victories against Shanghai Bright Ubest in the country’s league final series.
Playing in her second season in the team, the 23-year-old Vargas scored 38 points across the two matches of the best-of-three series, which were both won by Tianjin in straight sets, tallying 15 points on Saturday and another 23 on Sunday.
Third place in the Chinese League went to Shenzhen Zhongsai, which defeated Fujian Anxi Tiekuanyin 3-1 in the second match of the bronze medal series on Saturday.
Shenzhen have as many as seven Europeans in their squad and they were all very important in the team’s victory with Bosnian opposite Dajana Bošković registering 20 points, Azerbaijan’s middle blocker Mariya Kirilyuk tallying 15, Ukrainian outside hitter Oleksandra Bytsenko firing 14 and Azerbaijan’s outside hitter Odina Aliyeva adding 13. Serbians Ana Jakšić (setter), Sara Klisura (outside hitter) and Tijana Milojević (libero) are the other Europeans that took part in Shenzhen’s campaign.
On the men’s side, the Shangai Bright of Italians Osmany Juantorena and Giulio Sabbi and Polish Bartosz Bednorz had to settle for silver after the 16-time Chinese champions fell to Beijing BAIC Motor in the final series, which was played between Wednesday and Thursday.
Beijing won the series and retained the title with 3-1 and 3-0 victories and Sabbi, with 14 points, and Bednorz, with ten, were Shangai’s best scorers in the second encounter.
Japan
The Japanese V. League resumed after the break for the Holidays and the first round of matches had an exciting duel between Polish world champion Bartosz Kurek’s Wolfdogs Nagoya and Russian Olympic champion Dmitriy Muserskiy’s Suntory Sunbirds.
The teams first clashed on Saturday, when Kurek scored 20 points to Muserkiy’s 15 to lead the Wolfdogs to a 3-0 win. On Sunday, the Sunbirds fought back and won the second encounter 3-1 with 23 points from Muserskiy – Kurek led all scorers in that match too with 35 points.
Kurek’s former Polish national team teammate Michal Kubiak had a weekend of ups and downs with his team Panasonic Panthers splitting wins with the Sakai Blazers. The Polish veteran scored five points in Saturday’s 3-1 defeat but came back stronger to produce 15 and led his team’s 3-0 victory on Sunday.
Although his team Toray Arrows lost both of their matches to the JT Thunder Hiroshima, Hungarian opposite Krisztian Padar was in good form, registering 44 points across both duels.
Several European women also stood out in Japan over the weekend, starting with Turkish outside hitter Neriman Özsoy, who led her team Denso Airybess to back-to-back wins over the Okayama Seagulls. Özsoy fired 30 points in Saturday’s 3-2 victory and added another 25 in Sunday’s 3-1 triumph.
Azeri opposite Jana Kulan scored 12 points on Saturday as her team Toray Arrows topped the Toyota Auto Body Queenseis 3-0, but her 22 points on Sunday weren’t enough to avoid a 3-1 defeat to the same opponent.
Dutch opposite Celeste Plak had a similar path with her Victorina Himeji side as she started the weekend with 20 points in a 3-0 upset to Hitachi Rivale and produced another 19 as Himeji triumphed 3-1 on Sunday.
Korea
Bosnian opposite Jelena Mladenovic continues in great form in the Korean V-League. The 25-year-old European had tremendous performances with second-placed Incheon Heungkuk Life Pink Spiders and helped them top GS Caltex Seoul 3-2 on Thursday and beat Hwaseong IBK Altos 3-1 on Sunday.
Mladenovic, who ranks third in the Korean League in points (473), tallied a match-high 36 points against Caltex and added another 28 in the match against Hwaseong. She has scored 20 or more points in her last 11 matches with the Pink Spiders.
On the men’s side, Spanish opposite Andrés Villena and Dutch outside hitter Thijs Ter Horst were the Europeans with the most productive performances in the Korean League this week.
Villena scored 19 points on Tuesday as his team Uijeongbu KB Insurance Stars fell to Seoul Woori Card Won in three sets and produced another 25 as his team topped the same opponent also 3-0 on Friday. Despite Ter Horst’s 25 points, his team Suwon KEPCO Vixtorm couldn’t handle the Samsung Bluefangs and lost in five sets on Thursday.